UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

Use of plan curvature variations for the identification of ridges and channels on DEM

Rana, S.; (2006) Use of plan curvature variations for the identification of ridges and channels on DEM. Presented at: 12th International Symposium on Spatial Data Handling, Vienna, Austria. Green open access

[thumbnail of RANA_Sanjay-SDH_2006_revised.pdf]
Preview
PDF
RANA_Sanjay-SDH_2006_revised.pdf

Download (1MB)

Abstract

This paper proposes novel improvements in the traditional algorithms for the identification of ridge and channel (also called ravines) topographic features on raster digital elevation models (DEMs). The overall methodology consists of two main steps: (1) smoothing the DEM by applying a mean filter, and (2) detection of ridge and channel features as cells with positive and negative plan curvature respectively, along with a decline and incline in plan curvature away from the cell in direction orthogonal to the feature axis respectively. The paper demonstrates a simple approach to visualize the multi-scale structure of terrains and utilize it for semi-automated topographic feature identification. Despite its simplicity, the revised algorithm produced markedly superior outputs than a comparatively sophisticated feature extraction algorithm based on conic-section analysis of terrain.

Type: Conference item (Presentation)
Title: Use of plan curvature variations for the identification of ridges and channels on DEM
Event: 12th International Symposium on Spatial Data Handling
Location: Vienna, Austria
Dates: 12-14 July 2006
ISBN: 354035588X
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
Publisher version: http://www.springer.com/west/home/geography?SGWID=...
Language: English
Additional information: The original publication is available at www.springer.com.
UCL classification: UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Civil, Environ and Geomatic Eng
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/2105
Downloads since deposit
1,231Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item